Study: Revenue Lost to Inaccurate Data

When it comes to data accuracy, organizations worldwide are struggling, according to research commissioned by QAS, an Experian company, and released today.

Only 14 percent of public and private sector organizations globally claim to have customer and prospect databases that are 100 percent accurate, and 73 percent recognize that the data inaccuracy affects their bottom line, the research found.

The study, conducted by independent research organization Dynamic Markets, also showed that fewer than two in 10 U.S. organizations claim that their data are 100 percent accurate, and 77 percent admit this problem costs them money.

Other key findings:

· 99 percent of respondents rate compliance with regulations pertaining to customer or prospect data as important, yet compliance is a key driver for only 35 percent of organizations.

· Main barriers to maintaining accurate databases include lack of time and internal resources (65 percent), keeping track of a transient customer or prospect base (55 percent) and budget (49 percent).

· Only 42 percent of organizations have a dedicated database manager. Within businesses, only 34 percent say a board member takes ownership of their databases.

· 75 percent of companies admit that potential revenue is lost through missed business opportunities from not profiling customers and prospects as well as they could due to data quality issues.

The research was conducted in June. Dynamic Markets was commissioned by QAS to speak to 550 respondents in large public and private organizations in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Britain and the United States. Sectors include banking, insurance, finance, retail, telecoms, utilities, leisure, tourism, travel and the public sector.

Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters